


Little Talks

by Loestri



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Creepy guy is kinda rapey, Gen, Kidnapping, Poor Tony, Science Bros, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark has friends and needs to realise it, Torture, god help him, i guess, no actual rape, threatened rape, tony stark has self esteem issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-28
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-08-27 14:07:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8404576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loestri/pseuds/Loestri
Summary: Tony knew they didn't need him, but he needed them so he burdened them with his presence. He showered them with presents and tried to stay out of their way so they didn't have to pretend to like him, he tried to do what he could to make being around him less unbearable. However when he is taken from the streets and they come to his rescue he'll have to accept that his friends care about him, and they want him to know about it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I can't do summaries but I tried so yeah. This is my first fic in the avengers fandom, and I've been wanting to do it for ages so I hope you enjoy. There are probably loads of mistakes that I've missed but hopefully it isn't too bad, please enjoy. ^^

Tony took a sip of his sixth(?) coffee this morning. Could it really be counted as morning when he hadn't even slept? In his den time didn't matter only coffee and his inventions. He was working on upgrading the iron man suit, he was always working on upgrading the iron man suit, to make himself safe, but more importantly to make his friends safe.

He would do anything to keep Pepper, Rhodey and the Avengers safe, even if the truth wasn't the same in reverse. And he knew it wasn't, Pepper tolerated him for her job now they had broken up, Rhodey for War Machine upgrades, and the Avengers team kept him around for iron man, they tolerate tony for his genius upgrades but nothing else, he was under no illusions, he knew his place.

Jarvis interrupted his self deprecating thoughts with a polite 'excuse me, sir?'  
"What's up, J?"  
"You have a incoming call from Miss Potts, sir."  
"Patch her through, J." Tony carried on with his work, taking another sip of his coffee.  
"Tony you're late."  
"Late for what Pepps?"  
"The meeting Tony, the board meeting, the very important board meeting which I told you not to miss at any cost." Tony froze, that was today?  
"Yes Tony that's today, and you were supposed to be here thirty minutes ago." He must have said that last bit out loud.  
"Shit, I'm so sorry Pepp I'll be there in fifteen, can you keep them waiting?"  
"Make it ten Tony." The phone disconnected and Tony rushed to get himself ready.

Five minutes later he was dressed (he kept a suit in his workshop after all the times he had to rush because he was late) and was suiting up in iron man, if he wanted to be there on time he had no other option but to fly. When he arrived he found Pepper waiting for him outside the meeting room.  
"Finally, they're getting antsy, get in there."  
"I'm sorry I'm late, this is the last time."  
"Every time is the last time Tony, I'm used to it." She smiled, and that definitely looked like a 'I'm done with your shit' smile, which made Tony feel like shit.

They entered the meeting like he hadn't been forty minutes late and had kept them waiting, Tony stayed polite and respectful the entire time, not wanting to get on Pepper's bad side, not again, he did that enough as it was. At the end of the meeting the board of directors left happy and Tony and Pepper were alone once again.

"You can't keep doing this Tony."  
"I know Pep, I'll try harder I swear."  
"Did you even sleep last night? When was the last time you slept at all?" Tony thought back, it wasn't last night, or the night before, was it the night before that? He doesn't think so. It might be the night before that one when he'd passed out drunk. He doesn't answer Pepper's question, she probably wouldn't like the answer, might even be enough for her to give up on him finally. She simply sighed.  
"Go home Tony, try to sleep, you need it." He nodded.  
"Have a nice day Pep." She smiled, she looked tired.

Once again he donned the iron man suit, flying back, he might try and sleep as Pepper suggested, or he might just down some coffee and go back down to the lab. He opted for the latter and went to the communal lounge (it was the closest place with coffee). However when he arrived he found the lounge full to the brim with avengers, all of them. Cap and Bucky were sat on a couch talking, Thor was eating poptarts, Clint was checking his bow and Natasha was sharpening knives, Bruce was scrolling through his starkpad. He'd invited them to live with him under the guise that it would be better to keep the team close, for fast response. But the truth was he wanted to give the team another reason to keep him around, cool rooms, in fact cool entire floors, because he had given each of them an entire floor to themselves decorated to their taste by him personally. He kept giving them awesome new toys as well for this reason, if they kept getting presents they were more likely to carry on putting up with him.

"Hey Tony, we haven't seen you in few days!" Why would Bruce even bother to mention that? Surely it was better for them if he kept out of their way, stayed locked in his lab until he had no other choice if he wanted to survive.  
"I've just been busy in the lab is all, Brucie. Did you miss your favourite science bro?" He smiled cockily.  
"You're my only science bro, Tony." That's only because Tony wasn't scared of the other guy, if it wasn't for that Bruce could have any science bro he wanted, he was just so nice. Tony only had his science bro because Bruce liked the way he wasn't scared, he didn't like anything else about Tony, and who would?  
"I better be, I'd be devastated if you cheated on me Bruce."  
"So what have you been doing in your lair, Tony?" Clint asked, Tony thinks that's another reason they keep him around, to make sure he doesn't turn into a super villain, that would be troublesome for them he's sure.  
"Upgrading my suit, what else?"  
"And what did you add this time? Laser eyes?"  
"I'll add it to the list birdbrain."

Tony made his way to the kitchen desperate now to get his cup of coffee unfortunately Captain Patriotism and his scary shadow (Bucky was never far behind these days, his addition to the team had been sudden and naturally he moved into the tower to be with Steve) followed him. This was a problem because of the major crush Tony was harbouring for Steve, and the one he was starting to develop for Bucky, and that Steve and Bucky were clearly in love and if they weren't already dating they would be soon.  
"Tony we need to talk about you missing the last mission debrief." Steve was using his captain voice, the one Tony had fantasised about Steve using in bed, but he couldn't think about that right now because those are bad thoughts and he was trying so hard not to be bad.  
"And the one before that and the one before that and the one before that..." Bucky was smirking, after he had recovered from his severe case of winter soldier, it was revealed he was one sarcastic shit, quite like Tony in many respects.  
"I figured you'd be quite fine without me there, was I wrong?" The truth was he had injuries that needed to be dealt with and he didn't want to bother the others with it, and certainly didn't want to go to medical, so he'd licked his wounds in the privacy of his lab, with the none-help of his bot children.  
"Debrief is important Tony, you can't keep missing it." Steve sounded disappointed, he hated when he made Steve sound like that, it happened far too often.  
"Duly noted capsicle, now I'm going back to my lab to carry on working, if you'll excuse me." He strode out of the room with determination, being in the same room as Steve and Bucky made him feel horribly guilty for wanting to get in the way of what they had (or were going to). He waved as he went through the lounge and carried on through to the elevator.  
"Take me to the lab, J"  
"Right away, sir." 

\---------------------

Tony stayed in the lab for another 52 hours, until hunger finally drew him out. It was early in the morning, when the morning had to be accompanied by technically. He snuck out (he couldn't really calling it sneaking anymore when he'd seen super spy's and assassins sneak) and went to the kitchen to find food, it was empty, which even at this hour was odd for the tower. He checked the fridge and was depressed to find that Bruce had been stocking the fridge, meaning it was full of rabbit food. Desperate times called for desperate measures, he'd have to leave his tower to find food, he's thinking a burger.

The streets are quiet and calm, as calm as this place could get anyway. He walked in the quiet, nothing but food on his mind. Alleys opened at random intervals Tony stared into the seemingly never ending darkness of their mouths. His stomach growled again, clearly it had been far too long since he had anything to eat, Pepper would be furious, she likes her genius in tip top shape to make a good impression on the investors. He was lost in deep thought which is why he didn't notice when the masked men came out of the alley next to him and a black unremarkable van pulled up next to him, removing him from sight. It was all rather cliche really, one minute he was walking down the street minding his own business and the next he was being chloroformed and stuffed into the back of a van. How unoriginal.

It felt like no time at all had passed when he woke up, however he was in a room, a very simple room. There was a strip of fluorescent light on the ceiling which he was too damn small to reach, and there was nothing in the room he could use to reach it. He was essentially in a box, these people clearly knew who they were dealing with and had taken any means he might use to escape, stripping him to his boxers and throwing him in an empty room.

He sat in the corner farthest from the door, he's not sure for how long but it must have been for a considerably long time because the drugs had completely worn off and his already sizeable hunger had only grown. That was one of the most frustrating parts about this, he couldn't even leave his house for a burger without being abducted, how ridiculous is that? He wondered what they'd want this time, ransom, weapons. Maybe they'd heard how much of a laugh he was to kidnap and thought they'd try it out for themselves, get some Tony Stark original snark and sarcasm for themselves, because of all his talents (there were only two others, his intellect and ability to drink absurd amounts of coffee) that was certainly the one he was most proud of.

Two men entered his box, they were both of larger build, buff. They had that typical minion look to them, you know the stupid one. Tony decided he'd call them grunt 1 and grunt 2. Grunt 1 approached Tony, grabbing his arm roughly and pulling to him to his feet, and to the door. Being made to leave his cell in these situations usually meant the 'fun' was about to start, and in his opinion the 'fun' is never really that much fun for him, only his captors. He was dragged through dimly lit corridors a multitude of doors leading off to different areas, how big was this place? Who were these people for this to be their lair? Behind a number of doors he could hear crying, screaming, whimpering, all things that didn't bear well for his own safety. He hoped the team would be looking for him, but why would they? Tony wasn't that important, he was an extra, helpful to have but not essential to the integrity of the machine as a whole. Why should they waste their time looking for him when there were so many things that needed their attention more than him. So it made sense that the avengers shouldn't be looking for him, wouldn't be, even though that thought broke his heart even more than it already was.

Finally they brought him into another room, another box, slightly bigger than his own, this one with a single chair in the middle (again so cliche). He tried not to look at the floor, because the floor was more bloodstain than concrete, so he looked at the walls, the walls which had chains hanging from them, maybe he should just close his eyes instead. Further inspection (he really hates himself right now) of the walls shows a camera in the corner, so they'll be recording these sessions they're having, great. 

Grunts 1 and 2 force him into the chair, tying his hands behind him and his ankles to the legs of the chair, they use rope, and do it purposefully too tight, these guys are dicks. Then the grunts stand by the door. The room is silent and its grating on Tony's nerves, did they bring him here just so they could bore him to death? That seemed likely, however then the door opened and another man walked in. He didn't seem to be the grunt kind, so he was probably more important, almost certainly judging by his impeccable suit (and Tony knows suits). He was tall, lean. His dark hair was styled fashionably, he held himself in the way only people born to money and power could.

"Hello Tony, so nice of you to join us, I hope my colleagues treated you well." His voice was soft and deep, each word perfectly pronounced.  
"In that case you might need to invest in some new minions." The man (he needed to find a name for him, or come up with a nickname) smiled condescendingly at Tony.  
"I'll take it into consideration. Now for how today will go, I know this isn't the first time you've been taken, so you may have an idea of how these things work. See we want you to make weapons for us, I know you've heard it all before and I imagine you're going to say no way, but I think I can persuade you. I usually don't like to get my hands dirty, Tony, but for you I'm willing to make an exception. So what do you say, want to do this the easy way?" The man ran his hand through Tony's hair, making him shiver, he brought his hand around and cupped Tony's jaw in a mock of a gentle touch  
"I don't make weapons anymore, not for you, not for anyone. Find another genius."  
"That's what I thought you'd say, but it's really no problem this way is more fun for me. You see making weapons is only part of what we want, an added bonus let's say. More than that we want to eliminate the threat that is iron man, to weaken the avengers, and preferably to strengthen ourselves in the process. Which means that I can do anything to you, it doesn't matter, I could kill you, I could make you wish I had, but I don't have to keep you in working order, I'd just like to. So this is going to be the last time I ask you, want to do it the easy way?" 

 

In truth the mans words were affecting Tony more than he cared to let on, it wasn't the first time people had threatened to kill him, to get him out of the way, but usually they were empty threats to get him to do what they want, or to try and get ransom (when will people get the idea that SI won't pay ransom for him). Even more disturbing was that this man thought that getting rid of Tony would weaken the avengers.  
"If you think that getting rid of me will weaken the avengers at all you're mistaken, I'm not that important to them, they could find someone to replace me, Stark tower goes to them when I die, I have a list of people that could takeover making them upgrades. In fact getting rid of me might make it easier for them, I never follow orders, I'm snarky and rude, most of them hate me and the ones that don't only tolerate me, getting rid of me would make everything smoother for them." The man came right in front of Tony, placing his hands on Tony's shoulders before climbing into Tony's fucking lap. Clearly it was just Tony's luck that his captor was gay and mad, because this is Tony's life.  
"Oh Tony, you're so stupid for a genius, that's okay though, I like you anyway." Tony was itching to push him off, to shout at him, but he knew that antagonising guys like this never ended well, not when he was tied to a chair in a goddamn torture room. The man's hand cupped the back of his neck, rubbing what he supposes are supposed to be soothing circles, it doesn't work.

The man leans in closer to Tony, so close that he can feel the others breath on his face.  
"I suppose we must get back to the problem at hand, from what I've seen I take it you don't want to do this the easy way, so I have no other choice, but to say I wasn't hoping for this would be a lie. You see I've been thinking about what I'd like to do to you and I came up with an idea I like, but I might have to wait to see if you break before I use it. I was thinking I'd keep you alive, though you'll wish I hadn't, and send you back to the avengers, see what they think of my handiwork. But if we send you back we can't have you being able to carry on your work as an engineer or as iron man, so I'd have to make a few changes to your person. I'd take out your eyes" the mans fingers ran under Tony's eyes, making him shudder "I don't think you'd be able to do your work or pilot iron man without them, don't you think? And it would be such an adjustment for you, being blind wouldn't be easy you know, not with my other plans. See I'd also cut off your fingers, no way you'd be able to create anything ever again without them, which do you think you'd miss more, your fingers or your eyes...or maybe your tongue, because I'd get rid of that too, no way of communicating. You wouldn't be able to see them, and you'd have no way of writing anything down, wouldn't even be able to learn sign language in place of losing your tongue. You'd be able to hear everything though, all the pity they had for poor Tony who had lost everything. If they didn't want you though, thought you were too much trouble, then maybe they'd send you away, and if they did I would definitely find you, take you back, because no matter what you looked like, no matter what you couldn't do, I'd still want you Tony."

The last part got Tony the most, because whilst the rest of it sounded horrific, that last part hurt. What if the avengers didn't want him? Would they just abandon him when he was that vulnerable? Would Steve and Bucky who he tried so hard for just get rid of him? Pass him off to another person? He would have nothing to offer them, if they did keep him around it would just be out of pity, and he wouldn't want that, not for them, it would be better for them if they left him, sent him back. He felt tears welling in his eyes, he willed them to stay but it just wouldn't work. It had been a stressful day, he was hungry and though he would never admit it he was scared, scared of the glint in that mans eyes, of they way he could mix such terrifying words with such tender touches, such a soft voice, it left him without a doubt that this man could, would, do everything he had said.

"Do you like that idea, Tony? I think you do. Well I'll have to leave you for now, I have important business to attend to, I'll leave you with my 'minions' as you called them. Take good care of him boys." With that the man that Tony never got a name for left and the grunts approached, they took 'care' of him before depositing him in his box, bloodied, bruised and with an extra broken arm that he didn't have before.

\----------------------------

When Steve awoke that morning, he found Bucky sleeping peacefully beside him, he almost looked exactly the same as he did before the winter soldier when he was sleeping, peaceful and happy. He was getting to be more like himself all the time, more and more happy moments where he was almost Bucky again, but he wasn't quite there yet. He watched Bucky for a while, he lost track of the time, just admiring him, until Bucky slowly awakened, eyes blinking open.  
"Good morning, did you sleep well?" Steve asked the same question every morning and slowly the answer was getting more truthful, Bucky's sleep was getting better.  
"I slept great." Bucky leant up to place a kiss on Steve's lips, they hadn't told the rest about their relationship just yet, but they suspected a lot of them already knew.  
"Excuse me sirs, but we might have a situation." Jarvis sounded as polite as usual but his voice had a worried edge, one of the many things about Jarvis that made Steve question whether he was actually a computer at all.  
"What is it Jarvis?" Steve asked, going into captain mode, a worried Jarvis was never good for them.  
"At 2: 37 this morning Mr Stark went out to get food, I lost track of him during his journey and he has not yet returned. It is now 7:49. I believe we have reason to be concerned as I have not been able to find sir again since I lost him." Steve met Bucky's eyes, sometimes they might not see Tony for days at a time, but if Jarvis wasn't sure of his whereabouts the chances were it wasn't going to be good.  
"Shall I alert the rest of the team?"  
"Yes Jarvis." Steve climbed out of bed and got dressed quickly, Bucky doing the same. "Tell them to go to the meeting room please." 

They made their way to the meeting room to find most of the others already assembled, excluding Thor who was in Asgard.  
"What is it this time Cap?" Clint was lounging on one of the chairs next to Natasha.  
"It's Tony. He left last night and Jarvis lost him, he still isn't back and Jarvis can't find him."  
"It should also be noted that Sir never made it to his destination."  
"Isn't that very Tony behaviour though?"  
"Although Sir is prone to leaving, I am usually informed of where he is going and how long he intends to be gone. Circumstances such as these usually only occur when Sir has been kidnapped, Mr Barton." The room froze at the mention of kidnapping, they knew it wouldn't be the first time for Tony but it's never good.  
"We'll start looking immediately. Natasha, Clint, I want you to to follow Tony's path, find where he may have been taken. Bruce monitor with Jarvis, look over anything that might be suspicious. Pepper and Rhodes will need to be informed, I think it might be better if we do it in person, Bucky you coming with me?"  
"Of course" 

It was at 12 when they received the video, they had all gathered back at the tower, with the addition of Rhodey and Pepper who wanted to help.  
"Jarvis can you trace where the video came from?"  
"I'm sorry Miss Pepper, unfortunately I can't." These guys must be good if Jarvis can't find them.  
The video went up on the screen, it started with Tony being dragged into the room by two brutes and tied to a chair. An audible gasp could be heard from Pepper, Bruce was shaking, everyone was stony faced. The video was silent for a while, none of them willing to break the tension by saying something. Then a man walked in, he seemed well groomed and Steve instantly hated him.

Hello Tony, so nice of you to join us, I hope my colleagues treated you well.

See we want you to make weapons for us.

I think I can persuade you.

I usually don't like to get my hands dirty, Tony, but for you I'm willing to make an exception.

Want to do this the easy way?

Find another genius.

This way is more fun for me.

We want to eliminate the threat that is iron man, to weaken the avengers.

If you think that getting rid of me will weaken the avengers at all you're mistaken.

Most of them hate me and the ones that don't only tolerate me.

Oh Tony, you're so stupid for a genius, that's okay though, I like you anyway.

I've been thinking about what I'd like to do to you.

I was thinking I'd keep you alive, though you'll wish I hadn't, and send you back to the avengers, see what they think of my handiwork.

I'd take out your eyes.

I'd also cut off your fingers.

Which do you think you'd miss more, your fingers or your eyes...or maybe your tongue, because I'd get rid of that too.

If they didn't want you though, thought you were too much trouble, then maybe they'd send you away.

No matter what you looked like, no matter what you couldn't do, I'd still want you Tony.

Tony started crying after that last part, then the man left and they watched as the brutes beat Tony, broke his arm.  
"I-I have to go!" Pepper hurried out, followed by Rhodey going to comfort her. Everyone looked disgusted, Bruce seemed to have gotten a little green.  
"He doesn't-he can't actually think we'd abandon him, right? That we won't look for him, that we'd pass him off to another person, to that man?" Clint sounded shaken, and Clint was a spy he wasn't supposed to sound that way. Even Natasha was seemed off, her mouth set in a grim line.  
"Who knows what's going through Tony's head? What matters is that we will find him, we aren't going to abandon him." Steve had adopted his Captain persona again, so he didn't show how shaken he truly was by this.  
"Jarvis run facial and voice recognition on this guy, we need to find Tony."  
"I'm sorry Dr Banner but that might take some time."  
"Do it as fast as you can Jarvis, we need to find Tony quickly."  
"What do we do in the mean time, cap?"  
"I don't know Clint."

\---------------------------

Tony estimated it had been a couple of hours since he was last with the man, not long enough in his opinion when the door opened again to show the man smiling brightly.  
"Hey Tony, ready to have some fun?"  
"I think you need to reevaluate your definition of fun."  
"How do you know we won't be having fun Tony?" The man traced Tony's lower lip, Tony pulled away quickly.  
"Again, reevaluate your definition of fun, clearly you have it wrong."  
"It would certainly be fun for me, and I think that's what matters most, don't you?"  
"No, not at all, actually." Tony pulled further away, jostling his broken arm in the process, he tried to conceal a wince.  
"Did my boys hurt you? I'm sorry let me have a look at that." The man pulled Tony's broken arm towards him roughly. Tony made a small sound that he refused to believe was a whimper.  
"Careful with the damaged goods!" Tony thought for a moment, which helped distract him from the pain "what do I even call you, creep, bastard, mean creepy bastard?" The man laughed but it didn't seem like he was laughing because he found it funny.  
"You can just call me sir. Or master if you prefer, I like that one." Of course, what a bastard.  
"I think I'll just call you sir, if it's all the same to you." The man lifted one of his eyebrows and Tony gritted his teeth " if it's all the same to you, sir."  
"You are a fast learner Tony, very good." He stroked Tony's hair and Tony resisted the urge to push him away, or push himself away. "Now come along, we have a very busy day ahead of us." Tony could imagine what very busy entailed. 

Tony was made to follow behind the man, the two grunts behind him. He was cradling his broken arm to his chest, it was hurting even more than before because of the man. They went to the same room as before only this time in addition to the chair there was a metal tray with surgical instruments.  
"I thought we'd get started on breaking you today Tony, unfortunately I'm not allowed to start with my plan, don't worry that will be coming soon, for now they want me to hurt you in a non permanent way, which I can most definitely do." Tony was tied to the chair again, this time with his arms tied to the arm rests. "Your friends should have received my message by now, I sent them the footage of us from last time, do you think they'll like it? I thought your crying at the end was truly beautiful, I wish I could keep you forever, that you could always be mine." He stopped a moment. "That is a wonderful idea. I don't have the sufficient tools to do it properly today, so we'll have to do it tomorrow, but I want to brand you, that way you'll always be mine, that's what it will say 'mine' simple and beautiful." He went over to the tray of surgical instruments and picked up a scalpel.  
"I'll have to do a temporary version for now, it will scar, but scars can fade, tomorrow I'll use a branding iron, I can't wait!" Tony would've heard what was practically a squeal from the man if it hadn't been for the near panic attack he was having at the idea of being branded, he found himself wishing even more than before that the avengers were looking for him and would be there soon.

The man came closer wielding the scalpel. "So where should I put this? Tomorrow I want to put the brand right here," he placed a finger just above the mess of scarring from the arc reactor "so I think today I'll put it here" he pointed to the area underneath the scarring "ready?" Tony was shaking everywhere, trying to get further from the man.  
"Don't...don't do that-no I don't want you to. Stop, don't...sir? Please sir don't do it." He burned with shame but he couldn't let him do this.  
"How sweet, unfortunately Tony I really want to do this, but I'll do it quickly, as thanks for being such a good boy for me. Stop shaking now dear, wouldn't want it to hurt anymore than it has to." The smile on his face kind of negates that comment.

Then he sits on the edge of Tony's lap, far enough so he can still write the word, he brings the scalpel to Tony's chest and he's making a conscious effort not to shake, not to make it worse. It hurts, it hurts so much Tony can barely comprehend it, but what was he expecting the man is literally slicing into Tony's chest, of course it would hurt like hell. As promised he does it quickly, but he does it quite deep, so deep he can tell it will take forever to fade if it does at all. It bleeds a lot, but the man cleans the blood up and applies pressure and it slows. 

"See that wasn't so bad was it? I made it quick as well, what do you say?" The smirk on his face was pure evil.  
"Th-thank you, sir." The blow to his dignity was almost as painful as the words on his chest.  
"You're so good Tony. But we're not done yet, I think we need to do a little bit more for our viewers, don't you?" Tony remembered then that the avengers would be seeing this session as well and he'd just begged and called this man sir, any little respect they had for him was probably going to be lost after that, if they even bothered to watch the video.  
"I was wondering how easy it would be to skin someone. Because surprisingly I've never done it before, but I've never had anyone like you either so I'm excited to see how this goes. Where should I do it? Should I do it in a shape? That would be cool wouldn't it, I think I'll do a heart, for how much I love you." He laughed like he told the funniest joke in the world "I think I'll do it on your forearm, not the broken arm though I'm not that cruel, I'll need to be careful though, don't want to slip and have you bleed out on me, so don't move, okay?"  
He made eye contact with Tony, so it seemed it wasn't a rhetorical question. He didn't trust his voice right now so he simply nodded.  
"I'm gonna need a little more than that Tony." His kind voice threatened violence.  
"Yes." He sounded croaky but it came out.  
"Yes what?"  
"Yes, sir."  
"Don't forget your manners Tony." Then he proceeded to systematically tear Tony's skin from his body. Well it was less tearing more surgically removing but it still hurt like a bitch. Tony took deep breaths trying to keep himself steady, trying not to move, but it was becoming increasingly difficult for him. He lost track of time, time meant nothing, all he could feel was pain, it was his entire world. When the man pulled away, holding a perfectly shaped heart of skin, Tony nearly threw up, but he had to at least keep some of his dignity.  
"That was fun! I think we'll stop for now, you look like you're going to pass out, so why don't I clean up your wounds and then you can go back to your room." He said the word room like it wasn't his cell. The man got some antiseptic and rubbed into the wounds he'd caused, it hurt so bad it was clear he only did it to cause more pain for Tony, he didn't bother to bandage them afterwards.  
"Take him back to his room boys, I have to send our next video."

\---------------------

The next video came a few hours after the first, at five, Jarvis immediately working to trace it, at the beginning everyone was watching, until Pepper had to leave because she was going to be sick and Rhodey accompanied her, then Bruce had to leave because he was on the verge of hulking out, Steve asked Bucky if he wanted to leave but he resolutely watched the entire thing. So it was only Steve, Bucky, Natasha and Clint left, each wearing a murderous look.  
"We're going to get that bastard, I am going to shoot an arrow right into his eye." Clint's voice was shaking with anger, he and Tony had never been great friends or best buds, but he liked the guy, he was funny and clever, always there to catch him when he decided to jump off of buildings.  
"I believe I can help with that Mr Barton, I have found the identity, I should say identities, of this man and have found a building that I believe is likely to be the one he is using to hold Mr Stark."  
"Perfect, how far is it, Jarvis?" Everyone was standing at attention ready to leave as soon as possible.  
"2 hours from your present location, I will prepare the Quinjet and notify the others." They took off at a run everyone at the Quinjet minutes after they'd been notified.  
"You've found him?" Asked Pepper, she looked pale and unwell, but clearly determined to find Tony, like the rest of them.  
"His location has been put into the gps Miss Potts." Jarvis seemed hurried, soon after they had taken off and were en route to Tony.  
"How do you think he'll be?" Pepper was chewing on her nails, something she did only when exceptionally nervous. Steve sighed.  
"Not good, but he'll have us there to help, so he'll be okay." She didn't seem entirely satisfied with his answer, but he couldn't say anything else without lying.

The rest of the journey passed silently, each of their heads full with thoughts of Tony.

\-----------------------

Tony sat shivering in the corner of his cell. He had closed his eyes when he couldn't stop looking at the words etched into his chest, the heart on his forearm, but with his eyes closed he kept seeing the man, smiling down at him, stroking his hair, cutting into him. It could have been minutes or hours after the last session but the door opened again and that horrible smile was aimed at him again.  
"I must be the only interesting thing in your life you're here so often."  
"You certainly are the most interesting thing at the moment, Tony. Before we start I have to ask this, do you want to skip the torture session and go straight to making weapons for us?"  
"No."  
"Thank god, that would have been boring, you know how it goes Tony, come along." Tony struggled to his feet and followed the man out of the room, the two grunts flanking them again.  
"So apparently a personalised branding iron isn't the easiest thing to get, so I won't be able to get it till tomorrow morning, but I will have it, don't worry." It was less reassuring more terror inducing but he couldn't let them know that. "But I have something just as fun planned." Tony was expecting to be taken to the same room as always but instead they walked straight past it further on to a different room.

On entry of the room Tony froze in what he supposes is horror, in the middle of the room (do they have different rooms specifically for different tortures?) is a whipping post, around the top where hands, his hands, would be tied were scratch marks.  
"Get him ready boys, I'm so very excited for this, you wouldn't even believe." The man perused a selection of whips hanging on the wall before picking up a riding crop.  
"We'll start with this I think." Tony stared resolutely at the post, not letting himself see what would happen, he decides he won't make a sound through this, or at least he'll try.

The first blow stung, but it was nothing he couldn't handle, he'd received far worse injuries in battle, the thing that was hurting most was his broken arm, broken arms should not be pulled up like that. The area where he had been skinned also hurt from it being pulled. The second stroke landed beneath the first, accompanied by the man's manic laughter. Five more followed in quick succession, his back was getting tender but he had yet to make a sound and the pain was bearable. More came and the ones that landed on top of others were more painful, but this was far preferable to what he had done last time. The man stopped and Tony resisted the urge to turn around.  
"This is fun but it's not producing the right results, I'll try another." The man proclaimed as he turned around. "I sent the avengers our last video a while ago, they've definitely watched it by now, it was about an hour and a half ago I think. Do you think they enjoyed it? It had a lot more action than our first." The man picked up a whip with many tails, each with a small silver ball at the end.  
"This one is going to hurt." And hurt it did.

\-------------------------

It was the longest 2 hours of their lives, it seemed to drag. Each of them studied a map of the building. It was decided that Pepper and Rhodey would wait with the jet with medical, ready to go as soon as they had Tony. Shield reinforcements were coming to help, a more accurate term though would be clean-up. Finally the Quinjet landed, staying a little out of the way so not to alert Tony's captors.  
"Everybody ready?" He looked at each of their faces, all set in a grim expression. They stormed out and the base didn't stand a chance.

It was a quick fight, for all the men they had and clearly money too this base wasn't well equipped, they didn't have enough firepower to take on the avengers. When they had stopped being attacked they gathered around.  
"Bucky, me and you are going to look for Tony, everyone else search the base for any other prisoners or information about these people.

\------------------------------

The alarm ringing snapped Tony out of the stupor he had fallen into from the pain.  
"Impossible, they shouldn't have been able to find this place. You two, get him down, we need to get out." Tony felt too weak to help in anyway, or to try and escape. Did the alarm mean the avengers had actually come for him? It couldn't, they wouldn't do something like that, not for him.

The grunts managed to pull on and graze and hurt him everywhere in the process of getting him down, a true feat in his opinion. He was pulled to the door and out along the corridors, he could hear distant roars that sounded distinctly hulk like filling him with renewed energy. He struggled more in the grunts grip, he kicked Grunt 1 right in the groin but all he got for his efforts was a punch to his stomach that knocked the wind out of him.

\-----------------------

Steve and Bucky searched all the rooms, they came across one that seemed to be the one in the videos, then they found one that seemed to have recently been hurriedly vacated.  
"They must have just been here Stevie, come on we're close." They left the room and carried on searching until eventually they heard voices.  
"Hurry up you oafs, we don't have enough time for this." Steve and Bucky stormed into the room to find three men trying to get a battered Tony into a helicopter, but he was fighting them as much as he could.  
"Shit, boss what do we do?" In a split second Tony was being held at gunpoint by his torturer.  
"Let us go and we'll let him live." Steve looked to Bucky, knowing from the look in his eyes what was going to happen. It was quick, in the blink of an eye there were three bodies in the floor each with bullets in their heads. Steve ran to catch Tony before he fell. Tony looked to be on the edge of consciousness.  
"You-you actually came...for me." Then Tony passed out in his arms to Steve's horror.

\-------------------------

When Tony came to something was different. He wasn't in his bed, but he wasn't in that cell either, so where could he be? He blinked his eyes open a little further to see white walls, and concentrated his hearing, there was a machine beeping next to him, meaning he was in a hospital room, he was in a hospital room because the avengers actually came for him. Why did they do that? It was certainly a waste of their time, wasn't there a world to save or something?

His sight came into better focus and he noticed the bodies around him, Steve and Bucky on either side of him, Natasha at the foot of his bed, Clint and Bruce sat on chairs around the bed. None of them looked like they had slept well.  
"Hey Tony you're awake." Steve's voice sounded tired and he looked ruffled. "Pepper and Rhodes aren't going to be happy you woke up while they weren't here."  
"They were here?" The team he understood might feel like they had to because he was a team member, felt like they had to whether they wanted to or not, but Pepper and Rhodey had no such obligations.  
"Of course they were here, they care about you Tony." The sadness in Steve's voice is heart breaking.  
"We all do Tony." Bruce sounded like he was about to cry, he couldn't let his science bro cry.  
"And we need to have a serious talk with you about your feelings." Natasha didn't sound much different to normal, but there was a definite difference to it.  
"I don't like feelings talks, they aren't fun."  
"They aren't meant to be fun." Tony doesn't think he's ever heard Clint so serious.  
"Can I at least get better first?"  
"We'll wait, but not for long." Cap's serious voice was filled with finality.  
"Okay, so how long till I can get out of here?"  
"If you're good you should be able to get out tomorrow, there's nothing to keep you bed ridden, but you have to have regular check ups to make sure everything heals properly, we don't want anything to get infected. And" Bruce hesitated for a moment, so clearly Tony wasn't going to like what he was about to say. "You can't do anything to strenuous, so you've been banned from the lab, Jarvis agrees it's for you're own good, so he won't let you through and will alert one of us if you try." Tony gaped, no way they would force him from his den, his safe place. He knows they're not happy with him but they wouldn't punish him like this, they couldn't.  
"You can't- I- why would you- you can't ban me from my own lab!" He sat up which hurt his everywhere, he was very bruised, but he needed to get across how serious he was.  
"We can and we have, were doing this because we care about you Tony." Steve's not allowed to say that, if they really cared they'd let him be where he feels safe.  
"Thanks mum that makes me feel so much better." Steve's frown and Bucky's reprimanding look almost make Tony feel guilty.  
"We're trying to help Tony, at least let us do that." Steve begged.  
"You don't have to do anything, I'm perfectly fine taking care of myself I've been doing it my whole life."  
"We know we don't have to Tony, we want to!" Bucky's exclamation leaves him in a shocked silence, it had been the first thing he said and Tony couldn't even find the words.  
"I thought we were waiting on the feelings talk." He knows it sounds pathetic but he couldn't think of anything else to say. Cap sighs like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders.  
"Of course, you should sleep, we'll talk later." Everyone stood like Steve had issued an order and filed out of the room, Steve stopped in the doorway.  
"We are going to have a talk Tony, don't try and get out of it, there are some things you need to hear." With that he leaves, the door shutting behind him, and Tony lies back. 

This talk they're supposed to be having is probably just to confirm all his suspicions, maybe they pity him for what happened and are going to let him down gently, now they realise he already knows what they think of him they'll probably say something like 'you need to know Tony, we aren't you're friends, we like the things that you make for us and iron man is helpful in a fight, so if you could carry on doing those things but stop interacting with us that would be great.' Because when do people want anything but what he can give them? Never.

\---------------------

When he woke up next the only people in his room were Pepper and Rhodey.  
"Hey Tony, you're awake, how are you feeling?" Pepper said softly.  
"Like I got dropped from the top of Stark tower." He doesn't care what the news say, it is still his tower, 12% Pepper's maybe, but the point is it is Stark tower not Avengers tower, not yet anyway.  
"That would kill you without the suit, however this your body will heal from, unlike the beating I am going to give you for believing nobody would come for you, for believing we wouldn't come for you." Rhodey's angry voice was almost as bad as Steve's captain voice, only slightly less guilt inducing and slightly more terrifying.  
"How could you think that Tony, we love you, everyone on the team is your friend, we all care about you so much. We'd do what ever it takes to save you, why would you think we wouldn't come for you?" Tony looked from Rhodey to Pepper, the sad anger spread across his face, the tears positively flowing down her cheeks, bringing tears into his own eyes. And for once, he thinks maybe he can believe them, believe that he is wanted, and he does believe them and it fills him with hope.


End file.
